DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I (claims 1-18) in the reply filed on 04/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/10/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, & 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632)
As per claim 1:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
A stripline circulator comprising:
a first ground structure having one or more cavities (ground structure comprises return path portions 308 & 310, and ground plane 304);
one or more dielectrics (ferrite disk 302) inside the one or more cavities;
at least one center conductor (322);
a first port (ports not shown [0107], example terminals shown in related Fig. 8 as 406a-c);
one or more second dielectrics (substrate
a second port (ports not shown [0107], example terminals shown in related Fig. 8 as 406a-c); and
a third port (ports not shown [0107], example terminals shown in related Fig. 8 as 406a-c);
wherein the stripline circulator is characterized by non-reciprocal signal transmission behavior comprising:
responsive to a first signal being provided as an input signal to the first port, the second port provides the first signal as an output signal; and
responsive to a second signal being provided as the input signal to the second port, the third port provides the second signal as the output signal (as per the definition of a circulator, as is well-understood in the art, and as described in [0113]).
As per claim 4:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
the one or more dielectrics are first dielectrics (ferrite disk 302), and further comprising:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314) having one or more second cavities (cavity is provided in bottom of Fig. 7B); and
one or more second dielectrics (ferrite disk 312) inside the one or more second cavities.
As per claim 7:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
at least one ferrite (ferrite disk 312) inside the one or more cavities (as seen in Fig. 7B).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Johnson et al. (US Patent 3201725)
As per claim 2:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314).
Hill et al. does not disclose:
a conductive gasket between the first ground structure and the second ground structure.
Johnson et al. discloses in Fig. 1:
the use of conductive gaskets (copper gasket 14) to provide vacuum-tight seal and continuous conductive path between waveguide sections (col. 2 lines 25-46).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a conductive gasket between the first ground structure and the second ground structure to provide the benefit of forming a seal and continuous conductive path between the ground structures, as taught by Johnson et al. (col. 2 lines 25-46)
As per claim 3:
Hill et al. does not disclose:
the conductive gasket is light-tight.
Johnson et al. discloses in Fig. 1:
the use of conductive gaskets (copper gasket 14) to provide vacuum-tight seal and continuous conductive path between waveguide sections (col. 2 lines 25-46).
As a consequence of the combination of claim 2, the conductive gasket is light-tight.
Claim(s) 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Tresselt (US Patent 3854106)
As per claim 4:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B (in an alternative interpretation):
the one or more dielectrics (ferrite disks 302 and 312), and further comprising:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314) having one or more second cavities (cavity is provided in bottom of Fig. 7B).
Hill et al. does not disclose:
the one or more dielectrics are first dielectrics and one or more second dielectrics inside the one or more second cavities.
Tresselt discloses in Fig. 1:
A circulator (title), comprising:
A ground structure (ground plane 14 and metallic spacer 20), having one or more cavities (holes 14a and 20a);
at least one center conductor (conducting circuit 12); and
a dielectric substrate (10) provided between the conducting circuit and the ground plane (14).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place a dielectric substrate between the center conductor of Hill et al. and each of the ground structures of Hill et al. as is well understood in the art for transmission lines, as demonstrated by Tresselt, which can be provided within a circulator structure, as taught by Tresselt et al. (abstract)
As a consequence of the combination, the dielectric substrates between the center conductor and the ground planes is interpreted to be the first dielectrics, which are inside the one or more cavities, and the ferrite disks are interpreted to be the second dielectrics, which are inside the one or more second cavities.
As per claim 5:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor (example terminals shown in related Fig. 8 as 406a-c, facilitating electrical connections, [0109], and further center conductor 322 is shown as a disk with three transmission line arms, whose ends are electrical contacts).
Hill et al. does not disclose:
at least one of the one or more first dielectrics has a first length; at least one of the one or more second dielectrics has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length; and further comprising one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor.
Tresselt discloses in Figs. 1 & 2:
A circulator (title), comprising:
A ground structure (ground plane 14 and metallic spacer 20), having one or more cavities (holes 14a and 20a);
at least one center conductor (conducting circuit 12); and
dielectrics comprising a ferrite puck (18) located below a central section of the center conductor and a dielectric substrate (10) provided between the conducting circuit and the ground plane (14),
wherein the dielectric substrate has a first length; the ferrite puck has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length (as shown in Fig. 2).
As a consequence of the combination of claim 4, at least one of the one or more first dielectrics has a first length; at least one of the one or more second dielectrics has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length; and further comprising one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor.
As per claim 6:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
the at least one center conductor has a first width at a point where at least one of the one or more electrical contacts is connected (electrical contact is established with the transmission line portion extending from the center of center conductor 322, wherein the transmission lines inherently have a first width as three-dimensional objects);
the at least one center conductor has a second width at a point where the at least one center conductor is between a first dielectric and a second dielectric (the portion of the center conductor between ferrite disks 302 and 312 inherently has a second width as a three-dimensional object);
wherein the first width is different from the second width (the central portion of center conductor 322 is circular, and shown to have a larger diameter than the width of the transmission line segments, as seen in Fig. 7A).
In an alternative interpretation, Hill et al. does not disclose wherein the first width is different from the second width.
Tresselt discloses in Fig. 3:
The use of steps 32 where radiating transmission lines contact a central disc to provide a broader operating bandwidth (col. 3 line 58- col. 4 line 21).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the first width to be different from the second width to provide the benefit of providing a broader operating bandwidth, as taught by Tresselt (col. 3 line 58- col. 4 line 21).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Pires et al. (US PGPub 20120088675)
As per claim 8:
Hill et al. does not disclose:
vacuum grease inside the one or more cavities.
Pires et al. discloses the use of vacuum grease as a binder substance in outer conductive housings with inner conductors ([0013]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use vacuum grease within the one or more cavities of Hill et al. to provide the benefit of a binder substance as is well understood in the art, and as taught by Pires et al. ([0013])
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Rosenbaum et al. (US Patent 3935548)
As per claim 9:
Hill et al. does not disclose:
the stripline circulator is characterized by a minimum cavity mode greater than or equal to 12 GHz.
Rosenbaum et al. discloses the operating resonance for a stripline circulator is a design parameter that can be adjusted through selection of resonant disc radii and coupling angles to provide resonances of greater than or equal to 12 GHz (col. 4 line 61- col. 5 line 13).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the minimum cavity mode of Hill et al. to be adjusted to be greater than or equal to 12 GHz as a design parameter for the functionality of the circulator adjusted by physical parameters as disclosed by Rosenbaum et al. (col. 4 line 61- col. 5 line 13)
Claim(s) 10, 13, & 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Abdo (US PGPub 20170093381)
As per claim 10:
Hill et al. discloses:
a stripline circulator, wherein the stripline circulator comprises:
a first ground structure having one or more cavities (ground structure comprises return path portions 308 & 310, and ground plane 304);
one or more dielectrics (ferrite disk 302) inside the one or more cavities;
at least one center conductor (322);
Hill et al. does not disclose:
A quantum computing system comprising: a plurality of qubits; a quantum logic circuit configured to perform one or more quantum operations on the plurality of qubits.
Abdo discloses in Fig. 10:
A quantum computing system ([0069]) comprising:
a plurality of qubits (820A,B);
a quantum logic circuit (measurement circuit or multimode JPC, configured to entangle qubits, [0096]) configured to perform one or more quantum operations on the plurality of qubits;
and a circulator (1015A,B).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the stripline circulator of Hill et al. to be used in the quantum computing system of Abdo as an art-recognized specific circulator replacing a generic circulator and able to perform the same function (that of being a circulator), as taught by Hill et al. ([0104]).
As per claim 13:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
the one or more dielectrics are first dielectrics (ferrite disk 302), and further comprising:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314) having one or more second cavities (cavity is provided in bottom of Fig. 7B); and
one or more second dielectrics (ferrite disk 312) inside the one or more second cavities.
As per claim 16:
Hill et al. discloses in Figs. 7A-B:
at least one ferrite (ferrite disk 312) inside the one or more cavities (as seen in Fig. 7B).
Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the resultant combination of Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Abdo (US PGPub 20170093381) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Johnson et al. (US Patent 3201725)
The resultant combination discloses the quantum computing system of claim 10, as rejected above.
As per claim 11:
The resultant combination discloses in Hill et al. Figs. 7A-B:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314).
The resultant combination does not disclose:
a conductive gasket between the first ground structure and the second ground structure.
Johnson et al. discloses in Fig. 1:
the use of conductive gaskets (copper gasket 14) to provide vacuum-tight seal and continuous conductive path between waveguide sections (col. 2 lines 25-46).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a conductive gasket between the first ground structure and the second ground structure to provide the benefit of forming a seal and continuous conductive path between the ground structures, as taught by Johnson et al. (col. 2 lines 25-46)
As per claim 12:
The resultant combination does not disclose:
the conductive gasket is light-tight.
Johnson et al. discloses in Fig. 1:
the use of conductive gaskets (copper gasket 14) to provide vacuum-tight seal and continuous conductive path between waveguide sections (col. 2 lines 25-46).
As a consequence of the combination of claim 2, the conductive gasket is light-tight.
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the resultant combination of Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Abdo (US PGPub 20170093381) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Tresselt (US Patent 3854106)
The resultant combination discloses the quantum computing system of claim 10, as rejected above.
As per claim 13:
The resultant combination discloses in Hill et al. Figs. 7A-B (in an alternative interpretation):
the one or more dielectrics (ferrite disks 302 and 312), and further comprising:
a second ground structure (ground structure comprises return path portions 318 & 320, and ground plane 314) having one or more second cavities (cavity is provided in bottom of Fig. 7B).
The resultant combination does not disclose:
the one or more dielectrics are first dielectrics and one or more second dielectrics inside the one or more second cavities.
Tresselt discloses in Fig. 1:
A circulator (title), comprising:
A ground structure (ground plane 14 and metallic spacer 20), having one or more cavities (holes 14a and 20a);
at least one center conductor (conducting circuit 12); and
a dielectric substrate (10) provided between the conducting circuit and the ground plane (14).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to place a dielectric substrate between the center conductor of the resultant combination and each of the ground structures of the resultant combination as is well understood in the art for transmission lines, as demonstrated by Tresselt, which can be provided within a circulator structure, as taught by Tresselt et al. (abstract)
As a consequence of the combination, the dielectric substrates between the center conductor and the ground planes is interpreted to be the first dielectrics, which are inside the one or more cavities, and the ferrite disks are interpreted to be the second dielectrics, which are inside the one or more second cavities.
As per claim 14:
The resultant combination discloses in Hill et al. Figs. 7A-B:
one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor (example terminals shown in related Fig. 8 as 406a-c, facilitating electrical connections, [0109], and further center conductor 322 is shown as a disk with three transmission line arms, whose ends are electrical contacts).
The resultant combination does not disclose:
at least one of the one or more first dielectrics has a first length; at least one of the one or more second dielectrics has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length; and further comprising one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor.
Tresselt discloses in Figs. 1 & 2:
A circulator (title), comprising:
A ground structure (ground plane 14 and metallic spacer 20), having one or more cavities (holes 14a and 20a);
at least one center conductor (conducting circuit 12); and
dielectrics comprising a ferrite puck (18) located below a central section of the center conductor and a dielectric substrate (10) provided between the conducting circuit and the ground plane (14),
wherein the dielectric substrate has a first length; the ferrite puck has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length (as shown in Fig. 2).
As a consequence of the combination of claim 4, at least one of the one or more first dielectrics has a first length; at least one of the one or more second dielectrics has a second length; and wherein the first length is longer than the second length; and further comprising one or more electrical contacts connected to the at least one center conductor.
As per claim 15:
The resultant combination discloses in Hill et al. Figs. 7A-B:
the at least one center conductor has a first width at a point where at least one of the one or more electrical contacts is connected (electrical contact is established with the transmission line portion extending from the center of center conductor 322, wherein the transmission lines inherently have a first width as three-dimensional objects);
the at least one center conductor has a second width at a point where the at least one center conductor is between a first dielectric and a second dielectric (the portion of the center conductor between ferrite disks 302 and 312 inherently has a second width as a three-dimensional object);
wherein the first width is different from the second width (the central portion of center conductor 322 is circular, and shown to have a larger diameter than the width of the transmission line segments, as seen in Fig. 7A).
In an alternative interpretation, the resultant combination does not disclose wherein the first width is different from the second width.
Tresselt discloses in Fig. 3:
The use of steps 32 where radiating transmission lines contact a central disc to provide a broader operating bandwidth (col. 3 line 58- col. 4 line 21).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the first width to be different from the second width to provide the benefit of providing a broader operating bandwidth, as taught by Tresselt (col. 3 line 58- col. 4 line 21).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the resultant combination of Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Abdo (US PGPub 20170093381) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Pires et al. (US PGPub 20120088675)
The resultant combination discloses the quantum computing system of claim 10, as rejected above.
As per claim 17:
The resultant combination does not disclose:
vacuum grease inside the one or more cavities.
Pires et al. discloses the use of vacuum grease as a binder substance in outer conductive housings with inner conductors ([0013]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use vacuum grease within the one or more cavities of the resultant combination to provide the benefit of a binder substance as is well understood in the art, and as taught by Pires et al. ([0013])
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the resultant combination of Hill et al. (US PGPub 20200027632) in view of Abdo (US PGPub 20170093381) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Rosenbaum et al. (US Patent 3935548)
The resultant combination discloses the quantum computing system of claim 10, as rejected above.
As per claim 18:
The resultant combination does not disclose:
the stripline circulator is characterized by a minimum cavity mode greater than or equal to 12 GHz.
Rosenbaum et al. discloses the operating resonance for a stripline circulator is a design parameter that can be adjusted through selection of resonant disc radii and coupling angles to provide resonances of greater than or equal to 12 GHz (col. 4 line 61- col. 5 line 13).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the minimum cavity mode of the resultant combination to be adjusted to be greater than or equal to 12 GHz as a design parameter for the functionality of the circulator adjusted by physical parameters as disclosed by Rosenbaum et al. (col. 4 line 61- col. 5 line 13)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL S OUTTEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7123. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30AM-6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached at (571) 272-1988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Samuel S Outten/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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